RIO DE JANEIRO – Baylor soccer senior midfielder Aline De Lima received a call-up to the full Brazilian Women’s National Team, Confederação Brasileira De Futebol (CBF), joining her native country’s squad to train for the Copa Amèrica de Chile, running April 4-22, 2018.
“I’m completely thankful and happy for this opportunity that God is giving me to represent my country and play with great players,” De Lima said. “I’m also thankful for an amazing season and a team that supports me and has helped me achieve one of my biggest dreams.”
The training will take place at the world-renowned Granja Comary Football Complex in Teresópolis, Rio De Janeiro, the headquarters and training facilities for the CBF.
De Lima is the only collegiate student-athlete to receive the call to the squad and is making her debut with the WNT.
The Belo Horizonte, Brazil, native had a tremendous 2017 season, becoming the fourth All-American in Baylor history (Courtney Saunders, 1998; Dawn Greathouse, 1998; Dana Larsen, 2012), the first since Larsen in 2012 and the first for head coach Paul Jobson.
“We are extremely happy and proud for Aline to be able to achieve her dream to represent Brazil on the senior national team,” Jobson said. “The player and person she has developed into will be a great asset to any team.”
De Lima finished the 2017 season with seven goals and eight assists, totaling 22 points. Her three game-winning goals led the team and her performance in the postseason was one for the ages.
After finishing the regular season with four goals and three assists, De Lima posted two goals and four assists in the Big 12 Soccer Championship, lifting the Bears to wins over No. 14 Texas, No. 16 Oklahoma State, and TCU. BU won its third conference title and De Lima was named the tournament’s Offensive Most Outstanding Performance.
De Lima added a goal and an assist in the NCAA Soccer Championship, helping lead the Bears through the deepest postseason run in program history, culminating in the first-ever trip to the Elite 8.
The tournament in April serves as a multi-faceted qualifier for CONMEBOL, the governing body for the national soccer organizations in all 10 countries in the South American continent. The respective nations will compete for spots in the 2019 World Cup in France, the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
